Vienna's the most liveable city, but polluted London misses out

Emerging cities famed for IT, car building and – bizarrely – gnomes, also made
it on to the Mercer list of attractive destinations for workers

Vienna, Austria, topped the rankings when it comes to quality of life

By Elizabeth Roberts

12:21PM GMT 19 Feb 2014

Vienna, Austria, is the city with the world’s best quality of living, according to a new survey, while London just scraped into the top 40.

The second-placed city in the Mercer 2014 Quality of Living rankings was Zurich, Switzerland, followed by Auckland, New Zealand and Munich, Germany. London came 38th, having lost marks for pollution and traffic jams.

The Mercer rankings are designed to help companies compensate their employees fairly with allowances for hardship and inconvenience, depending on where they are posted.

The international consultancy company evaluated living conditions in 223 cities worldwide, ranking each according to its performance across 10 different categories.

Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer, said: "Political instability, high crime levels and elevated air pollution are a few factors that can be detrimental to the daily lives of expatriate employees their families and local residents.

"To ensure that expatriate compensation packages reflect the local environment appropriately, employers need a clear picture of the quality of living in the cities where they operate."

Other factors assessed included the level of media censorship, limitations on personal freedom, and the standards of international schools, public transport, housing and health care.

In fifth place was Vancouver, which was the highest-ranking city in North America. Singapore came top in Asia, and Dubai came first across the Middle East and Africa. Baghdad, Iraq, is the worst place for anyone to have to relocate to, followed by Bangui in the Central African Republic.

Mr Parakatil added: "In a world economy that is becoming more globalised, cities beyond the traditional financial and business centres are working to improve their quality of living so they can attract more foreign companies.

"This year’s survey recognises so-called second tier or emerging cities, and points to a few examples from around the world."

These include Wroclaw, Poland, which ranked 107 in the world and was described as an emerging city.

"Since Poland’s accession to the European Union, Wroclaw has witnessed tangible economic growth, partly due to its talent pool, improved infrastructure, and foreign and internal direct investments," said the report.

Manaus, Brazil, ranked 125th, was named as another emerging city. Located in the middle of the Amazon jungle, it is a major industrial centre. The report noted that the free economic trade zone of Manaus, which gives it administrative autonomy, has given the city a competitive advantage over others in the region.

Other emerging cities were Cheonan, South Korea, (98th) which is strategically located in an area where several technology companies have operations and Pune, India, which has developed into an IT, automobile manufacturing and education hub.

Mr Parakatil said the world’s emerging cities “have been investing massively in their infrastructure and attracting foreign direct investments by providing incentives such as tax, housing, or entry facilities".

London ranked 38 in the world, and was praised for its “excellent infrastructure and wide selection of educational facilities” available for expatriate families.

However, Ellyn Karetnick, UK head of Mercer’s International Mobility Practice, noted: “Lower ratings on factors such as air pollution and traffic congestion keep London from reaching the top 10."